Lee's Summit, MO Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

City Code Sec. 17-4 covers cigarettes, alternative nicotine products (like nicotine pouches) and vapor products (e-cigarettes, e-cigars, vape pens) together. Selling or distributing any of these to a person under 21 is unlawful, as is a person under 21 purchasing them, possessing them if under 18, or misrepresenting their age to buy them. Retail dealers must post two conspicuous signs at every display and on every vending machine and cigarette-rolling machine: one stating it is a violation of law to sell to anyone under 21, the other showing 'under 21' defaced with a red diagonal slash.

Clerks must check government photo ID showing date of birth unless the buyer plainly looks older than 30; reasonable reliance on a checked ID is a defense to prosecution. Employees and owners must also keep minors from obtaining products through vending machines, and businesses with cigarette-rolling machines may not let under-21 patrons operate them except for supervised employment or licensed liquor-control/police enforcement purposes. The section exempts state-licensed medical marijuana facilities and undercover compliance checks run directly by the Lee's Summit Police Department. No specific fine is written into Sec. 17-4 itself, so violations default to the Code's general penalty provision.